Composite cork disk



ay 27 E. VINCKE COMPOSITE CORK DISK Filed Feb.. 8, 1923 Mam vents v Patented May 10, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENRIQ'U'E VINCKE, OF BARCELONA, SPAIN,

ASSIGNOR TO MANUFACTURAS DE CORCHO,

s. a, or BARCELONA, SPAIN.

' COMPOSITE CORK DISK.

Application filed February 8, 1923. Serial No. 617,881.

the assembling machine; the chances of the disk of poor duality being positioned in the cap to be outwardly of the disk of good. quality are equally as favorableas for the disk for good quality and consequently such proposal is commercially impracticable.

Any attempt, pursuant to the aforesaid procedure, to have the disk of good quality be positioned cxteriorly in the assembly of the crown cap, would necessarily include additional operation, attendant with additional expense.

In such prior composite cork disks the disks are secured to one another by resin paper applied on the whole of the contiguous surfaces of the disks and for the reason that substantially all natural cork disks are porous to more or less extent, the resin adhesive is located in contact with. the beverage or other liquid of the bottle on which the crown cap has been applied.

Such aforesaid prior and similar proposals have been encouraged by reason of the accumulation of disks of cork bark of poor quality, resulting in the manufacture of disks of high quality;

Generally speaking, .in the present day manufacture of disks of natural cork bark, notwithstanding the selection of cork bark to derive the maximum yield of disks ofhigh grade, the proportion of disks of poor quality is from forty to sixty per centum. The disks of poor quality are considered as waste and are disposed of by grinding into granular or powdered form, as for the manufacture of so-called composition cork, for heat insulating purposes and for the manufacture of baked compressed board, the financial return of which is relatively low and emburdens the cost of the disks of good quality to compensate for the losses.

Pursuant to the present invention, and with the aforesaid object of utilizing the disks of poor quality resulting in the manufacture of cork disks of high quality, the

disk is formed compositely of three disks, laid one on top of the other, the two outer disks being of good quality andthe inner or central disk of lower quality.

A further feature of the invention resides in .z-u plying the adhesive or other binding medium only on such portions of the disks which are located out of the region of possible contact with the beverage or other liquid contained in the bottle, as by applying the i-ltlliESlYG substantially circularly immediately adjacent the edges or the peripheries of the disks, whereby the beverage or other liquid of the bottle is in engagement only with natural. cork bark and does not contact with the binding material.

Pursuant to the more preferred forms of my invention, the outerrdisks are of substantially equal-thickness and approximately one-half of the thickness of the inner disk of poor quality.

Further features and objects of the invention will be more fully set forth in the following description and the accompanying.

drawings, in which 1 Fig. 1 shows in elevation the neck and mouth of a crown bottle and in central vertical section. a crown cap embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view broken away to show the composite disks and one means of securing the same to one another;

Fig. 3 is a detail top plan View ofthe inner disk and showing the region of application of an adhesive, pursuant to Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. let is a detail perspective view similar to Fig. 2,'but showing a modified form for seeming the disks to one another.

Referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, the oppositely disposed, outer disks 10, 11 are of natural cork bark of good quality and the inner disk 12 is of lower quality. As indicated, the thickness of the outer disk 10 is substantially that of the outer disk 11 and the thickness of the inner disk 12 is substan tially twice that of each of the disks 10, 11.

The combined thickenss of the composite disk formed of the three disks 10,11, 12 is that of disks accepted. in the manufacture of crown caps.

The respective disks 10, 1.1, 12 may be assembled as a composite disk by means of adhesive applied to the contiguous faces; but the location of application of the adhesive is preferably restricted to the region immediately adjacent the periphery of the disks and disposed outside of the region of possible contact with the contents of the bottie to which the crown cap is applied. Thus, as is indicated in Fig. 3, the central or inner disk 12 is supplied with adhesive 1.3 within the region indicated between the periphery 1-l of the disk 12 and extending inwardly to the substantially circular line 15.

The adhesive applied to the opposite face of the inner disk 12 in a similar manner and at a similar location as is indicated at 16, see Fig. 2, or an equivalent procedure may be pursued by applying the layer ,l-l of adhesive on the inner :face of the out r disk 10 within a similar region and the other layer 16 of adhesive applied to the inner face of the opposite outer disk 11 within a similar region.

In the assembly of the crown cap, such composite disks are charged into the hopper in bulk, that is to say, indiscriminately, and the provision of cork bark of good quality on the opposite faces of the disk, ensures the locating of the composite disk within the metal shell to have an exposed facing of cork bark of good quality.

its is indicated in l, the outer disk 10 is shown to be positioned exposedly within the metal crown ii, in which circumstance the opposite disk ll is brought into engagement with and secured by the usual adhesive to the inner face of the metal shell 12'. in the resin collet method of assembling, such opposite disk ll is brought into engagement with one face of the paper collet, as will be understood. As will appear from Fig. i, the regions of location of the layers 12-5, 1.6 of adhesive for bonding the disks of the composite disk to one another are disposed circularly laterally ot' the :nibstantially circularv region denoted by the indication lines 15, 18, that is to say, circularly outwardly of the region of engagement of the exposed disk 10 with the lip l9 of the mouth of the bottle 20.

The assembly of the three disks may be offected by other procedure, thus as indicated in Fig. 4, the opposite outer disks ll), 11 of good quality and the inner disk 12 of lower quality are bonded to one anotl'ier by means of the peripherally (fX'tQli'lcllillj paper 21 having adhesive on its inner surface to bond the respective disks l0, l1, l2 circumferentially to one another.

Other forms of uniting the disks 10, ll, 12 to one another may be employed, such as by sewing the disks by fine thread, wire stitchings, wire staples, rivets of yieldable material, such as cotton twistings covered with wax or like material. Preferably, such binding means are applied at two, three or like number of spaced locations and disposed within a region located outwardly of the region of engagement of the cork disk with the contents of the bottle, whereby upon crowning the bottle with the crown cap, the binding medium is located without the region of contact of the beverage or other liquid contained in the bottle.

in a similar manner, composite disks may be formed of more than three disks, the outermost disks being of good quality.

In lieu of employing a disk of lower quality, it may be advisable under certain cincumstances to granulate the disks of lower quality and to form therefrom disks of composition cork, and substitute such disks of con'iposition cork for the disk of lower quality in the composite disk.

.Vhereas I have described my invention by reference to specific forms thereof, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as dclined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a composite cork disk for a crown cap comprising outer disks of natural cork of high quality secured to a cork disk of poor quality and means for bonding said disks to one another disposed circularly outwardly of the region of engagement of said outer disk with the contents or the bottle to which the crown cap is applied.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a composite disk for a crown cap, comprising ()ulei' disks of cork of high quality, a cork disk of lower quality and means for securing said disks to one another comprising bonding means located closely ruljacent the edges of said disks.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a coin posite d isk for a crown tap, comprising; outer disks of cork of high qualiy, a cork disk of lower quality and means for securing' said disks to o'e another comprising; bonding: means applied at the edges of said disks.

5i. As a new article of manufacture, a composite disk formed of outen disks of cork of high quality, an inner disk of: cork of a lower quality united to one another and means for bonding said disks to one another disposed circularly outwardly of the region of engagement of said outer disk with the contents of the bottle to which the crown cap is applied.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification this 27th day of January, 19in).

ENRIQUE VINCKE. 

